Inkwell: Pfft, Applejack can do anything. She is the applegoddess.

werewolf99: I plan to.

Sir Gawain thought she was prepared for anything. She didn't even think that she needed to bring Galahad as backup, but Galahad had insisted. When Gawain had seen Lancelot's terrible state, and her shock at being defeated by a mere rogue, she had almost reconsidered her stance on the subject, but nevertheless set out as if she was prepared for whatever came.

What she had not prepared for was the pure rage she saw in the blue traitor's eyes. His eyes seemed to overflow with it, and his face was set in a wicked, exhilarated grin, as if he could think of nothing more fun to do right now than to engage in combat. She saw in his eyes anger, bitterness, despair, and a darker something… a sort of spiritual sickness… something that made her shudder down to the core of her bones.

She also saw a sword rushing at her face.

Clearing her thoughts at once, she rolled to the side and came up with the other sword drawn, a feat worth admiration, as the sword was sheathed in the side of her armor, and that was what she had to roll on. It was a lucky thing too, for the traitorous rogue was quicker than she was, and she had barely raised her sword in defense when he slashed against it, causing sparks to fly.

Pushing him away, she sheathed her drawn sword and caught the other in her teeth as it boomeranged back to her. This was the way in which her swords had been found, the sacred blades passed down through countless generations. The forges of old must have been more proficient than those of today, for though countless blacksmiths had tried, none could produce the same boomerang effect as her blade held.

Her rational mind screamed to call for Galahad's aid, but her pride as a Knight of the Round Table would not let her do so without giving the traitor a run for his money on her own. She decided to rely on her experience and power to counter his speed, and she held her ground.

However, he seemed ready to counter this strategy, and adapted his fighting style, doing the same, and forcing her to attack. She hurled one of her swords at him, and he dodged through the stones of the structure which they were fighting around. He dove and swerved through the stones, his movements blurring in Gawain's eyes, so that to her, it seemed as if there were ten of him rushing around, ready to attack her at any second.

She hurled the same sword once more at him, it having returned, and this time she was somewhat successful, barely clipping his right wing and crash into the ground. This momentarily took his advantage of flight, an advantage which no other pegasus knights had, for their wings were constrained under armor, and she took no hesitation in exploiting this weakness, and launched herself at a gallop toward his fallen form. She brought her remaining blade down on him, but he quickly parried the blow and spun in a maneuver that kicked up dirt around him, veiling himself from view.

Gawain backed up in confusion, for this tactic was something that she had not trained to fight against. In fact, it was really a tactic that would be associated with a coward rather than a warrior, and she briefly considered the possibility that he had fled. He had not, and instead rushed out of the dirt at her at so high a speed that she could not even raise her blade in defense. Thankfully he did not run her through, and instead kicked her with a hind leg, sending her hurting back and onto the ground.

Now the tables were turned, and she was the one on the ground as he rushed at her. She thought this was to deal the final blow, but instead he stopped in front of her and looked down, a look of what could almost be taken for sympathy on his face. "I'll need your swords." He said hoarsely, his voice rough.

"Never!" Gawain shouted in response. "Nay, I will not!"

MEANWHILE

On the other side of the clearing, atop a cliff positioned in just the right place that the warriors in the clearing wouldn't be able to see it, a blue box shuddered into existence, kicking up dust and flattening the grass in a circular radius around it. The box made a wheezing noise as it hazed into reality, becoming more and more opaque, until nopony who looked at it would be able to deny its existence.

The door opened, and a brown stallion with a green tie and an hourglass cutie mark stepped out with a large grin on his face. This grin faded as he saw his surroundings. "Oh…" he muttered, his eyes flitting left and right and drawing data from it. "Epsilon Blanca is more barren than I thought it would be… unless…" He cast a glance back in the box and shouted, "Derpy! Where do the scanners say we are?!"

"They're blank, Doctor!" a female voice shouted back out, and a gray mare, around the age of nineteen or so, joined her comrade at the entrance to the box. She had a butter yellow mane, wings, crossed eyes, and an odd cutie mark of bubbles. "Is… is that supposed to happen?"

"Not Epsilon Blanca… no readings…" the stallion mused, quickly coming to the conclusion that he dreaded. "Ah… this is a little baddish."

"Baddish?" Derpy asked, tilting her head sideways in question. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… baddish as in worse-ish than usual."

"Ish?"

"No, not usual-ish, just usual." The Doctor turned and faced his companion. "Derpy, do you remember that huge bump before we landed?"

"Yeah, it was way bigger than usual." The pegasus rubbed a fresh bruise on her side, apparently attained from said bump.

"Well… I think we fell out of time."

"How–"

"I mean that in a quite literal sense." The Doctor interrupted. "By time I mean the time vortex. We fell out of it… and landed here. An alternate dimension. Speaking of…" he twisted his head so that it was nearly upside down. "Everything's up two inches from before."

"Two inches–alternate dimension?!" Derpy exclaimed, her eyes going wide in panic. "B-b-but we can get back, right?!"

"Easily, yes. The TARDIS still has plenty of charge." The Doctor glanced at his unusual blue box. "But why would you want to go so suddenly? We just got here."

Derpy faced him with a half-angry, half-frightened look. "Because every single time we stay in someplace like this we end up in some sort of danger, and for just once, I don't want to do that!"

"Five minutes?" the Doctor pleaded, giving his best puppy eyes.

Derpy's heart melted. "Fine." She sighed. "But only five."

"Whoopee!" the Doctor sprang into action, rushing forward to the edge of the cliff. He skidded to a stop just before he would've fallen off and peered down into the clearing. Then he saw something that worried him… something that even he wouldn't go near to for fear.

Derpy trotted up beside him and looked down at what he was looking at. "Oh hey, that's Applejack!" she grinned, spotting somepony she recognized.

"Yes… or at least a version of her." The Doctor agreed. But that wasn't what had worried him. He turned toward his companion. "Ditzy, promise me something. Promise me that you won't interfere with anything here. Not one event."

Derpy faced him with her eyebrows knit in a concerned look. He wouldn't use her real name unless he really meant what he was saying. "Okay… I promise."

"Good, because…" whatever the Doctor was going to say next trailed off into nothing. He looked down at the clearing again.

"Oh hey, there's Cobalt!" Derpy regained her smile once more. "I mean, uh, a version of him."

"Yes… he looks… darker than usual." The Doctor frowned.

"That's okay, though. He's just this dimension's version of him." Derpy shrugged that off and continued to watch the events below.

"Yes… this dimension's version…" the Doctor muttered quietly.

BACK IN THE CLEARING

Gawain was saved by a pebble.

Well… to be more specific, it was a pebble hit at high speeds by Galahad's sword. The missile made contact with the side of the blue traitor's head, causing him to flinch in pain and stumble sideways.

While Gawain used the opening to grab her swords and recover, Galahad tackled the rogue and scored a long, shallow blow along his back. This wound would not be enough to cause the ceaseless bloodflow as another one from a sacred sword would, because it would not have spilled much blood in the first place.

The rogue shot to his hooves, once again displaying more agility than any other fighter Gawain had ever seen, except perhaps Percival. He took a few staggering steps back and leaned on a stone, sides heaving as he gasped for breath.

Galahad backed up next to Gawain, a smug smile on her face. "I take it that thou need my help."

"The time for boasting is later." Gawain grumbled, eying her foe carefully. "At present, there are other matters to handle."

Unexpectedly, the traitor hurled himself in what seemed to be a last ditch effort at the two knights. Galahad parried his blade with her own, and then Gawain bucked him back into the stone that he'd been leaning on before. He hit the stone hard and slumped to the ground, unmoving.

"There." Gawain said with an air of finality. "He is unconscious. Let us finish the job while he cannot resist."

"Is such an act honorable?" Galahad wondered, frowning. "The only reason we have to do so is what the Queen hath said."

"If we can trust not the word of the Queen, then where what will become of the kingdom?" Gawain countered. "Our loyalty is to her and her alone."

"True." Galahad murmured discontentedly. This answer obviously did not put her question to rest. Nevertheless, the two advanced on the traitor, blades raised.

The front part of his mane had drooped over his eyes, casting a shadow over them, so the two could not see them. Even his sword seemed to be knocked out, its carved eyes closed. Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth, and his form seemed broken. However, as the two drew close enough, he grinned, and his sides shook with dark laughter.

Before the two could react, he lashed out with a hind leg and knocked their hooves out from under them. As they struggled to get up, he rose and laughed even harder, his eyes turning gray and his pelt seeming to radiate tangible waves of darkness. "I can't believed that worked twice!" his voice was harsh, like he was stabbing with words. "That was too easy!"

He scooped up his own sword as well as Gawain's two and Galahad's. "I'll see you later!" he said in the same voice. Before he could walk away, though, his eyes turned green once more, and his expression switched to one of horror, tears beginning to flow out of his eyes. "I–I'm sorry…" He choked out, turning and shooting off into the distance.

But as he flew, the memory of what just happened seemed to blow away and blur with the scenery. Five minutes later, he didn't even remember any of it, knowing only that now he had three of the swords, and only one left.

There we go, another chapter. Yeah, I just did that. I'm building up to something at the climax, just wait.

Oh, also for time reference, it has been about one day. It's around sunset.

Radicool223 out!